UTSA INDOOR: A COLLABORATIVE WORK OF ART

by UTSA - The University of Texas at San Antonio

WELCOME

The 2019 - 2020 UTSA Indoor winter guard season was off to a promising start for #UTSAMUSIC professors Randi Miles and Benjamin Pyles, the 5-year co-directors of the ensemble. “We were really starting to see the culture and performance level blossom into what we had envisioned when we started working together,” said Pyles. But, the season came to an unexpected end after the ensemble’s first-ever Winter Guard International (WGI) Regional victory in Dallas, TX. After winning the Regional competition with an impressive high score, UTSA Indoor was ranked #1 out of all competing groups in the Open class. “We were extremely excited about that, but the best part was knowing how much time we had left to craft, detail, and perfect the show moving forward,” stated Pyles. The ensemble had all the time in the world to prepare for a big win at the WGI World Championships later in spring 2020… or so they thought.

Following the big win at the Regional competition in Dallas, the students and staff were sent on what was supposed to be a normal week-long Spring Break. Because of the COVID-19 outbreak, it was extended for another week, which would ultimately extend through the rest of the semester as the nation entered a quarantine lockdown. The 2019 - 2020 season came to an abrupt halt for the UTSA Indoor ensemble making their Regional victory performance their final time performing or meeting in-person again. Reflective and thankful, Pyles says “The Dayton trip would’ve been great, and we felt like we would be very competitive, but nothing can replace sharing those moments together, competition or not. We pride ourselves on the product and experience over anything, and not being able to share those moments are far worse than missing out on any potential competitive success that might have been ahead of us.”

The previous 2018 - 2019 season set the precedent for success for the year to follow. Professors Pyles and Miles led the UTSA Indoor ensemble to the Winter Guard International World Championships for the first time in the program’s history. This is a yearly event where the best of the best winter guard groups travel to Dayton, Ohio from across the globe to compete in a 3-day championship event. The group performed in the Preliminary competition then advanced to the Semi-Finals and ended the 2018 - 2019 season in the Finals placing in the top half (7th overall) in the program’s first year competing on the national stage--a massive accomplishment and testament to the directors’ and ensemble’s hard work.

The 2020 - 2021 UTSA Indoor ensemble will continue to march on but to a very different beat. The group has consciously chosen to not compete or take part in anything that requires

travel or that would put the group at risk of infection. Instead, they will be working on the previous 2019 - 2020 award-winning program at the university in order to give the designed program the great ending it deserves. That program will be done in a music video format instead of the typical live performance, but the group is extremely excited to explore this new form of artistry and to see where it takes them.

With limitations to the in-person ensemble this year, the duo of Pyles and Miles has decided to open up another section to the course for those that wish to work virtually or may have an interest in designing shows or teaching students in the future. Both professors will be hosting a designer track class for the 2020 - 2021 season and semester where they have invited four world-class designers to also take part in assisting UTSA students through the process of designing a show. By implementing the new show design class track, the students will be able to learn the step-by-step process on how to design storyboards, arrange music, create choreography, design uniforms, and much more.

Hopeful for the future, Pyles states, “I think we’re all excited about making a group product together again. Nothing can beat a living, breathing, collaborative work of art. I’ve really missed working with the students and directors in our normal atmosphere, and even though this will be different than we’re used to, it’s as close as we can get with our situation.” The UTSA Indoor’s final performance project will be posted and featured on the #UTSAMUSIC platforms when it debuts.